All the Battle outfielders could do was look up. Jefferson City's Kara Daly bombed a solo home run to left field on a 3-1 count in the first inning Tuesday. There was no need to even take a step toward the fence.
"That got out in a hurry," Lady Jays coach Zac Miller said following the 8-1 victory at Vogel Field. "She got all of that one for sure."
Battle decided to give Daly first base the other three times she came to the plate, which worked out for Megan Green and Mychael Jett.
"As well as Megan has been swinging lately, that's great for her," Miller said. "Go ahead and put runners on in front of her and let her drive some more runs in."
A walk to Daly in the fifth put runners at first and second for Green, who slapped a single between Daly's legs to right field to score Addison Morgan for a 2-0 lead. Jett followed with a groundout to drive in Daly.
Green and Jett each had three RBI and Daly scored three times. Green also had three of the Lady Jays' nine hits.
"Especially after Kara hit that ball so hard in her first at-bat, it's a little more intimidating and they're thinking, 'Oh man, don't want that to happen with runners on base,'" Miller said. "Maybe they just aren't aware of how well Megan has been hitting, which is good, I like that."
The Lady Jays put the game out of reach with five more runs in the sixth.
Brooke Bates singled, Jaiden Allabaugh reached on an error and Abi Karr lined a hot shot off the pitcher's leg for an infield single to load the bases.
Two batters later, a Reece DeSimone groundout allowed a run to score and Green added a two-RBI single to right field after an intentional walk to Daly.
Jefferson City made it 8-1 when Jett doubled to left field to score Daly and Green.
Battle scored its lone run in the sixth when Andi Walters blasted an RBI triple to left field.
"Other than that, not a whole lot of solid contact," Miller said.
Battle had five hits off Jett, who struck out five and walked one.
"She did a good job mixing it up and finishing her pitches," Miller said. "She had a lot of them out on their front foot."
Jett, Freedom Austell, Amaya Bell, Aleya Haynes and manager Emma Crowley were recognized following the game for Senior Night.
The win makes Jefferson City 3-0 against Class 4 District 8 opponents this season. The Lady Jays have also defeated Hickman 5-4 and Rock Bridge 7-3.
The only district foe Jefferson City (9-4) won't face in the regular season is Washington, which is 16-3 on the season with a 9-1 loss to Hickman.
"Washington is that wild card," Miller said. "They don't play many people in the district. I know they've been playing really well. Hickman beat them early so it could be a little interesting at the (seed) meeting.
"I like the position we're in. We did our job and we won our district opponent games and the rest comes down to the other coaches."
Jefferson City will begin play in the Kewpie Classic on Friday in Columbia. The Lady Jays will face Lee's Summit West at 3 p.m. at the Antimi Sports Complex.
Jefferson City defeated Battle 8-1 in the JV game.
Kennedy Schanuth and Olivia Wood each had a two-run, inside-the-park home run.